If Lakers fans were concerened that LeBron James and Los Angeles were heading towards an ugly divorce, it’s time to breathe a sigh of relief.
This past weekend, LeBron was at the Las Vegas Summer League and was all smiles inside the Thomas & Mack Center. He watched his son, Bronny James, playing for the Lakers on Saturday and L.A.’s assistant coach, Greg St. Jean, sat with James’ family and business associates during the game.
LeBron returned for more Summer League action on Monday. This time, he took
a picture with the newest Lakers, Jake LaRavia and Deandre Ayton and warmly greeted President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka.
Based on these actions, recent rumors of LeBron’s departure seem silly, bordering on delusional.
Sure, LeBron’s agent, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, did mention James evaluating his Lakers future even when he opted into his contract, but it’s actions over words when it comes to the kid from Akron.
He has signed his deal, is all smiles and according to an article by Dan Woike and Joe Vardon of The Athletic, the Lakers fully expect him to be in a purple and gold jersey ready for training camp.
Amid the constant speculation recently about his future, both the Lakers and people close to the NBA’s all-time leading scorer expect that he will be with the organization for training camp once the season begins this fall, league sources told The Athletic.
Those same sources said the Lakers have received no indication from James or his representatives that he would request a trade or ask to be bought out of the final year of his contract, which will be his eighth season with the Lakers, the longest consecutive stretch spent with one organization in his career.
With this update and LeBron’s agent saying he has not asked for a trade, it’s clear LeBron will be a Laker at the start of the 2025-26 season. Could things change? Sure, but that’s always true.
Given LeBron’s contract, the fact that teams don’t exactly have a ton of cap space and James is now entering the final year of his deal, it’s unlikely we'll see a blockbuster trade for the oldest player in the NBA.
His best chance to win lies here in Los Angeles, playing with Luka Dončić.
Hopefully, this marks the end of the constant speculation about which teams could trade for James if he were ever to leave.
Until LeBron or his agent states otherwise, let’s all move on and assume the player who just agreed to play for the Lakers for another season will do just that.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
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